Eternals Annual #1 (1977)
by Jack Kirby
The chronological placement of this Annual is a bit uncertain; it’s either in the middle of Eternals #11 or after #14. I’m reviewing it now to avoid breaking up the main storyline too much.
We begin in Olympia, where the Eternals have picked up that a Neanderthal is attacking a modern city.
Eh, these things happen according to Captain Comet.
This isn’t an isolated incident, so Zuras believes it’s the work of the Tool-Master.
The Eternals COULD do something about it, but they prefer to involve the Deviants they recruited.
Notice the language used by Zuras: sounds like he considers Reject and Karkas to be Thena’s pets.
Which right now isn’t that far-fetched.
The duo calls out the Eternals, even though Zuras doesn’t want them to kill the Tool-Master.
Who does have a name, but I find Tool-Master too funny not to use it.
And speaking of our main villain, he just rented a place in “a large American city”.
Weird to see Kirby so reluctant to identify the setting, when he had no trouble explicitly using New York City at the beginning of the series.
Yep, he’s a tool.
The Tool-Master’s plan is to bring into the present people from other eras.
I have no doubt people would be scared if a knight appeared in a crowd swinging a mace at people, but this is beyond ridiculous. How is he causing that much trouble? How did he flip the car!?!?
This isn’t an Eternal or an Asgardian, it’s supposed to be regular guy!!!
Thena decides to investigate the “American city” with the two Deviants, casting an illusion to make the monstrous Karkas look like a regular nine feet tall human.
It’s a bit outside of what we typically see Thena do, but remember that (at least at this point) ALL the Eternals are capable of the same tricks.
She’s also taking the role Sersi typically gets, which I think is a good call: Sersi’s explosive personality would overshadow the rest of the cast, and it’s an occasion to give Thena more personality.
However, the Deviant Odd Couple completely steal the show.
As you figured out, their gimmick is that Reject looks like a normal guy but is a raging monster, while Karkas looks like a monster but he’s the sweetest guy ever.
But if you SOMEHOW missed it, this is a Kirby book so it’s not exactly subtle.
Meanwhile, the Tool-Master has brought into the present Jack The Ripper.
Doing a bit of research on this I found out that this doesn’t happen as often as I thought: Jack The Ripper is kidnapped from time only TWICE, now and in a Golden Age Captain America story.
He also faced Cable according to one panel in 2019’s “Marvel Comics #1000”, but it was Cable who time traveled.
Unsurprisingly, considering Jack is a regular dude and Reject is a super-gladiator, it’s not a very long fight.
Jack disappears into the past before Reject can kill him.
The cops are incredibly accepting of all this nonsense, giving more credence to the fact that this is set in the Marvel Universe.
I told you Karkas is the sweetest guy ever. Protect this giant teddy bear at all costs.
I wasn’t kidding about Karkas being at least nine feet tall, even with this illusion.
He’s then attacked by some Huns.
They’re about as threatening as you’d expect.
But doing this shattered the illusion, so the civilians are scared of the big monster with a heart of gold.
The Tool-Master tries to convince Karkas to switch to the tool side, which goes as well as you’d imagine.
Thena conveniently heals him. This is the downside of having all Eternals share the same powers: they’re waaaay too powerful. They will slowly transition into having powers on a rather limited scale and only have one or at most two powers at which they excel.
This issue is the only appearance of the Tool-Master; I blame this on his bland personality and, let’s face it, a rather uninspired design.
Which is a pity because he has some impressive gadgets, so if only he had the slightest bit of stage presence he could’ve become one of the evil super-geniuses.
After playing around with humans, the Tool-Master decides to bring to the present a famed Deviant from the past.
Which is not a great idea, since the creature he summoned kills him.
The comic does a good job hyping the threat, even if he doesn’t exactly have a name that instills fears… Tutinax.
Honestly they should just have called him Mountain Mover, which is an infinitely cooler name than Tutinax.
Thena restores Reject’s battle suit, flying into the fight while keeping her civilian clothes and Karkas’s illusory human body.
Despite this weird decision, I love this panel.
If this is the Marvel Universe… which is still an “if” at this point in Eternals history… this can’t be New York, because even by 1977 I don’t think the people would find this strange.
Tutinax is presented like a raging monster, but he does have a bit of characterization: when Reject issues a formal challenge, he honors it despite considering him an insect.
Thena then moves the fight to a street that is closed for repairs, so that this won’t endanger humans.
Well unless they’ve evacuated the entire block, this won’t be much help when Tutinax starts THROWING BUILDINGS.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the most rushed ending ever!
Because Tutinax just disappears into the past. That’s it.
This is a 34 page comic. That happened literally in the last page.
But at least it was worth it to establish a lasting friendship between the two deviants and Thena!
The two Deviants will rarely if ever interact with Thena again.
Historical significance: 1/10
As mentioned, the Tool-Master never shows up again. But Tutinax does have a few more appearances, including two fights with Thor; the last one being in 2012.
I’m shocked he hasn’t fought the Hulk yet.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
The mixture of the police taking things so casually and the idea that a time-displaced knight could be THAT much of a walking disaster.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
I’m surprised this one doesn’t get mentioned nearly as often as the series proper. The smaller cast and especially the higher number of pages allow the story to breathe FAR better, and Kirby is shockingly restrained: he doesn’t use a lot of splash pages, and even the layouts are different… on Eternals, most pages have only 4 panels. Here Kirby uses a lot of 6 panel pages as well.
It’s also a smaller and more intimate story, dealing with a threat on a FAR smaller scale than usual.
Which is unfortunately the issue’s biggest flaw: its villains and their plot. The Tool-Maker is almost interchangeable with any evil scientist, and Tutinax is barely a character.
Thena is also underutilized: she’s there mostly as a plot device to bring characters where they need to be and to give a disguise whenever it’s needed.
Still a better protagonist than Ikaris.
The buildup to Tutinax is handled well, but once he shows up I’m not convinced he’s that much of a threat. To the Deviants more or less, but at no point I’m convinced Thena couldn’t just snap her fingers and take him down.
I went back on forth whether to give this a 8/10, but that finale is atrocious enough to detract a point from the score.
Does this fit the Marvel Universe? 9/10
If anything, this being the Marvel Universe works better, at least to accept the police’s reaction. And if this is not New York City, things are quick enough to make it believable no superheroes intervene. Still, if this WAS the Marvel Universe, you would 100% get a mention of the Hulk when Tutinax rampages.
Splash pages: 3 out of 34 (9%)
No double splash pages
Most Kirby panel
Most WTF panel
No, seriously, how DID he flip the car!?